The Oglethorpe women's basketball team fought back from down 21 points to pull to within nine in the second half Saturday afternoon at Dorough Field House, but Huntingdon eventually pulled away for the 77-57 victory.
Down 35-18 at the half after being down by as many as 21 points in the first half, the Stormy Petrels started the second period on a 9-3 run to pull back to within 38-27 just two minutes into the half. This run included seven points from sophomore guard Emily Buck. The two teams traded baskets for several minutes from there and the visiting Hawks had a 44-30 lead with 14:21 remaining. From there, the Petrels went on a 9-4 run to pull to within nine points, 48-39, with 10:11 left. They found themselves down by nine again with 9:29 remaining, but that was as close as they would get. The Hawks would finish the game outscoring the Petrels 27-16 the rest of the way and pull away for the 20-point victory.
Huntingdon shot 59.1 percent in the second half to Oglethorpe's 37.2. Additionally, the Hawks shot 45.5 percent from 3-point range in the period to Oglethorpe's 28.6. Buck kept the Petrels in it, pouring in 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the stanza.
In the first half, Huntingdon started the game on a 13-2 run over the first 7:30. Then, they went on another run to put even more distance between themselves and the Petrels, this one a 15-3 stretch over four minutes to put the Petrels behind 33-12 with 2:26 remaining in the half. The Petrels finished the period on a 6-0 run and made it 35-18 at the break.
For the game, Huntingdon outshot Oglethorpe 44.0-to-32.9 percent, including 41.2-to-18.2 percent from 3-point range and 83.9-to-46.7 percent from the free-throw line. The Hawks outrebounded the Petrels 41-37 for the game, and turned the ball over 24 times to Oglethorpe's 22. Huntingdon's bench outscored the Petrels', 35-13.
Buck finished the game with 22 points, two assists and three steals. Meanwhile, senior guard Kyana Jenkins recorded 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. She also passed out three assists and swiped two steals.
The Petrels drop to 1-2 on the season with the loss, and will next be in action Tuesday evening when they welcome in-state opponent Covenant to Dorough Field House at 6 p.m.